That Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Tarantino are motivated by a sincere love of
the movies they send up can hardly be doubted, but the affection is
expressed in different ways. Mr. Rodriguez revels in badness for its own
sake. Planet Terror is intoxicated by its own absurdity; it tries
to raise incompetence to the level of craft, if not art. The random
close-ups, the lurching cuts, the off-kilter framing -- all of this is
obviously intentional. So is the hodgepodge story, which is like a stew
made of the contents of every can in the cupboard.

Ms. McGowan plays Cherry Darling, a hard-luck go-go dancer. She reunites
with an old boyfriend (Freddy Rodriguez), who turns out to be a
notorious gunslinger. They team up with a bunch of other townspeople --
we’re somewhere in Texas -— to fight off rampaging zombies (including
Bruce Willis and Mr. Tarantino, who also has a small role in Death
Proof). The zombies have been infected by a virus, and the only hope
for a cure is...

• international poster gallery
• international trailer
• previews for other movies
• 10-Minute Film School in
HD
• The Badass Babes of Planet Terror
• The Guys of Planet Terror
• Casting Rebel
• Sickos, Bullets, and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet
Terror
• The Friend, The Doctor, and the Real Estate Agent

ADDITION: Grindhouse (Special Edition) 2-disc
Blu-ray September 2010': This is a
little convoluted - but let's try to explain. What you get in this new
'Grindhouse (Special Edition)' 2-disc
Blu-ray is Planet Terror,
with intentional scratches included, in the theatrical 2.35 widescreen aspect
ratio (it was 1.78 on the individual transfer) sharing a disc with
Death Proof (already in 2.35 as was the individual release - see
HERE) - also in 1080P. The menus represent it as one film - separated by
the three faux trailers (Rob Zombie's 'Werewolf
Women of the S.S.' - take-off of Jesus Franco? - has Nick Cage as Fu
Manchu, Edgar Wright's 'Don't' and Eli Roth's 'Thanksgiving')
found on the Japanese boxset. Planet Terror open with the faux trailer of
Machete (actually released earlier this month - September 2010 - as a
full feature film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis - so, maybe
'faux' is the incorrect term now). Technically it is marginally inferior to the
individual release but the image quality is, obviously, of a less concern as it
was purposely beat-up to give a closer representation of the Grindhouse
experience. It looks quite acceptable in my opinion - still very grainy and
textured. You may judge the expanded screen captures below.

NOTE: Vivendi is still Weinstein!

Unfortunately what this first feature disc lacks is a lossless audio found on
the individual editions . Instead relying on a straight Dolby 5.1. While, I was
able to notice the lack of depth - I didn't consider it a fatal omission -
certainly not for most viewers. There are subtitle offered and my Momitsu
has identified
it as being a region FREE disc playable on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.

We keep the Robert Rodriguez commentary and audience reaction track. And this is
all on the first disc.

There is a second
Blu-ray advertised as having over 2 Hours of 'ALL NEW
BONUS CONTENT' (although much found on the Japanese 6-disc DVD set) including
Robert Rodriguez”s 10 Min Cooking School, Greg Nicotero Makeup/Effects –
Planet Terror, Extended trailer “Werewolf Woman of the SS”, Making
of the trailers: Don’t, and Thanksgiving, Don’t Trailer storyboards,
Death Proof Deleted Scene & Gag Reel, Hot Rods of Death Proof,
From Texas to Tennessee and The Look of Death Proof. You also get a
small cardboard leaflet with posters of both films and a listing of the package
contents.

Admittedly, this may be crazy to some - but I always wanted Planet Terror
(my favorite of the two Grindhouse retro features) in 2.35 and 1080P! The
addition of the faux trailers on the
Blu-ray and the second feature of Tarantino's film -
makes it more appealing - as does the second
Blu-ray loaded with the endless supplements. Sorry
keen fans - you'll have to indulge! I never tire of re-watching these.
Recommended!

Gary W. Tooze

***

ADDITION: 2-disc Individual
Blu-ray December 08':
Frankly, this is just too cool to believe. I would have thought a film with an
intentionally 'scarred up' image wouldn't have a place on
Blu-ray... but I was wrong. We don't get
the 2.35 aspect ratio but what we do get is a 'scratch-free' version of the film
looking mighty pristine - especially beside the 'intentionally damaged' one.
This shares the dual-layered
Blu-ray disc (with a whopping 43 Gig
total space.) It
works beyond a simple curiosity as it gravitates to watching the film all over
again exporting a new experience. Even on the 'scratch-free' I found a couple of
instances with the damage left in (see capture with Freddy Rodríguez below.)

The 'standard' version is filled with grain and looks
wonderful. It takes up over 25 Gig of space and has a strong bitrate of 33 mb/s.
The 'unscratched' version, which by the way doesn't have the faux trailers to
start (and is hence about 3.5 minutes shorter), is about 15 Gig but has great
detail and depth. It can tend to look a shade glossy at times - of which that
detraction is totally removed from the main feature.

Audio-wise we get a bump to TrueHD and it sounds pretty impressive at times.
I love the psychedelic music and there are plenty of aggressive moments to fill
your surround speakers. The standard 5.1 track is included as an option and
there are subtitles in English or Spanish.

In the extras the second
Blu-ray disc is only 6.7 Gig but I suppose need to be
put to
Blu-ray as some of the extras, like the
10-minute film school, are in HD (MPEG-2). On the feature disc we still get the
commentary and audience reaction track plus a BC-Live feature (not functioning
at the time of this review.)

This is addictive and I've seen it 6 times now. A really
fun experience that director
Robert Rodriguez has captured so precisely. I suppose the correct
statement might be - 'they don't make them like this... now'. Recommended!

Gary W. Tooze

***

ON THE JAPANESE BOXSET: ADDITION: BroadMedia
(6-disc) Japanese edition - August 08': Okay, first thank to Sean for
informing us of the existence of this Japanese set. In short the
differences are:

1) DTS
audio on the Japanese edition.

2) Only Japanese subtitles (removable) on the BroadMedia set.

3) Image quality leans slightly to the U.S. edition
but as the film infuses intentional and extensive damage it may be of
little concern to viewers.

4) Has many of the same English extras (like
Rodriguez commentary) but some are only in Japanese.

5) Includes, in the 6-disc package, the 191 minute theatrical cut of
'Grindhouse' (not on DVD in the US - Planet Terror in 2.35:1
ratio) - the double feature of both films
separated by three faux-film trailers (also not on DVD in the U.S. - see
images below).

Number five is the big ones for
most fans. It's surprising that, despite high critical acclaim, the
films did not fare well in the cinema. I suppose this is the reason that
both film's theatrical cuts (together), as 'Grindhouse', and the faux
trailers are not available Stateside in one glorified set. Many may be
keen to see Planet Terror in 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

This Japanese package is very cool with the
DVDs looking like 45 RPM's (anyone remember those?). The three hour
double feature is a ton-of-fun movie night that I revel in owning and
those trailers separating the features are golden (Rob Zombie's 'Werewolf
Women of the S.S.' - take-off of Jesus Franco? - has Nick Cage as Fu
Manchu, Edgar Wright's 'Don't' and Eli Roth's 'Thanksgiving'.)

If we get a chance we'll review the entire set in full and/or compare
Death Proof, but as it stands this Broadmedia set is
what diehard fans of this niche had been waiting for.

Gary W. Tooze

****

ON THE U.S. EDITION:

Video:The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image (NOTE: The film's
theatrical AR was 2.35:1 - but the DVD is 1.78:1...supposedly this is
the original AR that the film was shot in, but was reformatted to match
Death Proof's 2.35:1 AR so it would play as one continuous double
feature with the same AR. - thanks Bill!) has been beat up and
degraded to resemble badly-handled grindhouse film prints.
Expect to see a lot of lines, scratches, dirt, and other
blemishes. There are a lot of jittery moments and minute jump
cuts to simulate bad splices.

Audio:Even though Planet Terror was meant to re-create the
grindhouse experience, the DD 5.1 English track is very much a
contemporary interpretation of grindhouse happenings. As with
the video, there are hiccups, drop-outs, hisses, scratches, and
plenty of general wear-and-tear during the first half of the
movie. However, this is an action movie made in the 21st
Century, so expect plenty of zooms and pounding noises
assaulting you from every direction. The subwoofer roars during
the numerous explosions. This is an aggressive, dynamic mix that
doesn’t suffer from the same technological limitations that
1970s’-era grindhouse features did.

You can also watch the movie with a DD 5.1 Spanish dub. Optional
English SDH and Spanish subtitles support the audio.

--Disc 1--
Director Robert Rodriguez contributed an audio commentary. He
explains his and Quentin Tarantino’s motivations for making
Planet Terror and Death Proof. The best utility of
this commentary is Rodriguez pointing out various connections to
other movies.

Next up is probably one of the best extras that I’ve experienced
in a long while--the audience reaction track. This is an audio
recording of an audience watching the movie, and the viewers’
enthusiasm makes for a fun, fun time.

You also get an international poster gallery, the international
trailer, and previews for other movies.

--Disc 2--“10-Minute Film School” shows how the computer effects and film
“deterioration” were achieved.

“The Badass Babes of Planet Terror” and “The Guys of
Planet Terror” celebrate the main actors. “Casting Rebel”
details Rodriguez working with his son Rebel. “Sickos, Bullets,
and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror” explores the
stunt work. Finally, “The Friend, The Doctor, and the Real
Estate Agent” is a featurette about Rodriguez casting his
real-life associates in the movie.

--Miscellaneous--
Genius Products opted for a slim double keepcase to house the
DVDs. You get a cardboard slipcover and a $5 coupon for Death
Proof, which was released on DVD earlier this year.